


Puppy Love

by FapItFelix



Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-05
Updated: 2013-12-04
Packaged: 2018-01-03 13:04:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1070779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FapItFelix/pseuds/FapItFelix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aoba, while running errands for Tae, finds an injured dog on the street. Unable to leave it to die, he decided to take it home and care for it until giving it to the shelter in the morning. But the last thing Aoba expected might turn out to be the thing that changes the direction of his life for good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Puppy Love

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction I've written in a really long time, so sorry to everyone who has to read this and sees how rusty I've gotten. Special thanks to my friend Patricia for reading it over for me and keeping the writing consistent, as well as just plain improving it.

Life changing events never seem like life changing events when they happen. Your day starts out as it normally does, things happen, and then something different happens. But different things happen every day, even if only slightly from the day before. How are you supposed to know when that slight change in the winds will become the marker for your life's steady incline? 

Aoba didn't realize this would become such a fundamental event in his life. He knew it'd be a change, yes. But just how much, he couldn't begin to fathom.

 

The rain was pouring down like it always did in this city. Aoba had lived here since he was a kid. The city wasn't large, only a few square miles, but it was tall and very packed full of people. His parents moved here when he was very little, dropping him off to live with his grandmother, Tae. Aoba hadn't the slightest idea where his parents went, or why they didn't take him with them. His grandmother refused to tell him, anyway. He hadn't seen them since before he can remember, so it’s not like it mattered anyway. His grandmother was all he needed. 

He was lucky that the college he strove for happened to be in the same city that he lived in. His grandmother insisted, though, that he move into the dorm. Something about the “college experience” and all that. She reminded him that she was just across the city should he need something. As if _he_ would need anything; he was more worried she would fall and break a hip and he wouldn't be there to help _her_. But he was just a phone call away if anything bad happened.

Today just so happened to be one of those days where she needed him. Thankfully, it wasn't anything awful happening. She just happened to need something from a shop at his end of town. She had called him up right after class, asking if he could pick up an order for her and bring it to her house. Bringing it to her wouldn't be a problem, after all, and he “needed the exercise”. Aoba just laughed it off. His grandmother could probably pick it up herself, but it had been a few weeks since he came to visit. This was probably her way of getting him to come over to visit.

As soon as class got out, Aoba found himself walking down the street without stopping at his dorm. Due to the size of this city, the school's campus was spread out in several buildings all across this side of town. Some school buildings were next to each other, while others were more than ten blocks away. School buses came to and from every building to the dorms, but it was inconvenient to use them if anything. Transit in this city was unreliable at best--even the school funded kind! Because of this, Aoba found himself walking more often than not. But as soon as he ventured a little less than a block, the clouds started to roll in and the rain came down.

Aoba pulled the hood over his head as he walked, cursing inwardly at his lack of umbrella. Why didn't he bring one today? It always rained. He thought he should permanently keep an umbrella in his sidebag at this rate. It was a good idea, at least. He crossed his arms in an attempt to keep himself a bit warmer; instead, he found that this did absolutely nothing other than make him feel a little better. He continued walking, staring down at the ground to keep the water out of his face.

If he hadn't been staring so intently at the ground, he might have missed it. In the corner of his vision, he saw something small, dark and furry move a little bit. Thinking it might be a rat, he began to walk faster. But then a soft whimper sound came from behind him, and he stopped in his tracks. He waited a moment, before hearing it again. Aoba turned around, looking back at the shape he passed by. Looking at it more clearly now, he could see that it was in fact not a rat, but a dog. It was hard to tell in the rain, but Aoba could see it was some sort of mixed breed, with a dark colored coat matted to its body from the water. It was dirty, and it seemed to be in pain.

_Grandma would kill me if I brought home a dog._ Aoba thought this to himself, biting down on his lip. It’s not like he lived with his grandmother anymore anyway. He was in dorms. _That's even worse—the dorms don't allow pets_.

But the dog was in pain. It was abandoned and hurt and wet. Aoba stared at it, not even noticing himself walking toward it to get a closer look.

The dog looked up at him with big, beady eyes. Almost like it was pleading him to take it home.

Aoba sighed. He was a complete sucker for animals. So with a deep breath, he leaned down and moved to pick it up. Seeing him move toward it, the dog scooted away from him a little bit, frightened. Aoba moved his hands away from it at the movement, attempting to reassure it that he was friendly. 

“I'm not going to hurt you,” Aoba said quietly, reaching toward it again. The dog continued to scoot away, but it was too weak to get very far. Aoba lifted it up, surprised at how light it was. “You must be hungry, huh?” Aoba's words were gentle, in an attempt to calm the dog down. It was shaking, but most likely from the cold. Aoba held it close, but that wouldn't shield the dog much from the rain. He looked at it again. The dog was small, the size of a puppy, but he could tell from the face it was at least a year old. It stared up at him, as if begging for warmth.

With a sigh, Aoba opened up his jacket and stuffed the dog inside. He zipped it back up, shuddering a bit as its wet fur came into contact with his shirt, soaking it enough to reach his skin. Without missing a beat, the dog's head popped up out of the top of his jacket to stare out ahead of him. _At least he'll be warmer,_ Aoba thought to himself. 

He would take the dog to his grandmother's, clean it up, and then take it to the shelter in the morning. It’s not like this was the first time he took a stray there. He wouldn't keep it. He wouldn't have it long. Right?

Aoba continued walking down the street, this time with a new companion. After a few blocks, the dog stopped shivering and their body heats began to mix. By the time he had reached the shop, the two of them had managed to keep each other warmer than if they'd been on their own.

The shop was a peculiar one for sure. It looked like one of those old-hole-in-the-wall fortune teller shops you see in old movies. There were plenty of them in this town, all full of crooks trying to scheme money out of you with fake fortunes and phony potions. But not this one. The lady who owned this shop was a long-time friend of Aoba's grandmother--a real magician if he ever saw one. Even _if_ her sign's paint was cracking and an old mural of some gypsy lady was fading in the window, she was still the best there was.

The door creaked as Aoba opened it, a bell chiming on the inside to let the shop know it had a customer. The room was warmer than outdoors, for sure, but it wasn't by much. Aoba glanced around the room, taking in the familiar sights. He hadn't been here in a year or longer, but it looked exactly the same. The floor was a faded red, the carpet having probably been there for forty years or more. The walls had shelves that reached the ceiling, with books and bottles and old VHS tapes on every crevice. A single desk was in the back of the room, with chairs both behind and in front of it. One single door led in, and a back door led to the woman's private room.

“Hello?” Aoba called out, not seeing anyone there. Usually, she was sitting at her desk; however due to the weather, she probably hadn't been expecting anyone to come in.

A split second after Aoba spoke, a very tall, slender woman came through the back door. Her clothing was a bit too revealing for someone her age, with far too much makeup seemingly painted on, blonde hair wildly pulled up into a tall bun with strands falling around her face. She smiled upon seeing Aoba, ushering him to come to the back room. “Aoba! It's been so long! Come in, come in.”

Aoba followed her into the back room, holding the dog tight against his chest to make sure it didn't fall out. At this point, the dog was glancing around the room, rather intrigued by the new sights it was seeing. 

The back room was another sight entirely. From the ceiling to the floor were bags and jars full of herbs and liquids of all kinds. A single couch was in the back, and a final door that probably led to a bathroom of some sort. Aoba just stayed standing as the woman took a seat. “What brings you here, darling?”

“My grandmother sent me to pick up an order?” Aoba said with a bit of confidence in his voice, moving his arm to pet the top of the dog's head as he felt it still looking around.

“Oh! Of course of course.” The woman turned around and began to pick things off of shelves, packaging them into small tupperware containers and bags. “If you'd like, you can let the dog down. I have some water in a dish on the floor.”

Aoba glanced downward. Indeed, there was a large metal dog bowl with water filled to the top. It was normal in this city for store owners to leave dog bowls outside their doors to encourage customers to stand there and let the dogs drink; she must have taken it inside because of the rain. 

Debating whether or not this was a good idea, Aoba finally unzipped his jacket and placed the dog gently onto the floor. With a bit more energy than it had early, the dog moved quickly to the bowl, lapping up the water like it hadn't drank for days.

“I just picked him up on the street a few blocks down. I'm going to take him to the shelter in the morning.” Aoba spoke with ease, the herbal scent in the air calming his nerves. 

“Good for you. I'm sure he appreciates it.” The woman moved to some herbs nearby to the bowl, packaging those too. The dog didn't move, continuing to drink water. “Have you given him a name?”

“Oh. No I haven't,” Aoba frowned. “It’s not a good idea to name pets if I'm just going to give them to the shelter.” He was taught that when he was younger; as soon as he would name them, he would get attached. And parting with them was harder that way.

“Oh, nonsense!” The woman said with a laugh. “What’s a dog without a name?” She grinned, reaching toward a top shelf for some sort of liquid at the top. “I think you should call him Ren. It means water lily. A suitable name for a dog you saved in _this_ weather.”

Aoba looked down at the dog. Ren was a good name. As soon as she spoke the name, the dog stopped drinking and looked up at her, as if understanding what she said. Well, no going back now. This dog had seemed to take the name for itself. After a few seconds, the dog went back to drinking the water.

“Do you need help with that?” Aoba asked, noticing the woman was having a hard time getting something from the top shelf.

“No, I'm fine. I've almost got it.” But as soon as the words left her lips, several jars on the shelf came toppling down, smashing on the ground. The liquid poured everywhere, drenching the floor, the water bowl and the dog.

Ren jumped in shock, rushing against the wall to get out of the way of the liquid. Aoba rushed to the woman's side. “Are you alright?”

“I'm fine, I'm fine.” She said, waving her hand at him as if to shoo him away. “I need to clean this up though before it stains the carpet. Here, the order is finished.” She handed him the bag in her arms, a rather large one filled to the top with things Aoba couldn't begin to comprehend. “I'll clean this up, you can take your dog into the bathroom and clean him off.”

“Let me help you clean up...” Aoba started to say, glancing around for some sort of towel.

“No no, it’s quite alright. Go wash up Ren.” She shooed him again. Aoba frowned a little, then looked down at Ren. At this point, Ren was trying to clean himself. He was licking all of the liquid off of his fur, ears back in frustration. Whatever he was eating, it couldn't be good for him. Maybe that’s why she wanted him to clean him off so quickly.

Deciding not to take any chances, Aoba set down the bag onto the couch and walked over to Ren. He picked him up, bringing him to the bathroom and placing him in the sink. But by the time they made it there, Ren had already licked the majority of the liquids off. “Let's hope those aren't poisonous.” Aoba said worriedly, turning on the sink to run tap water on his fur and remove the last of it. It rinsed off easily, the water turning brown at the dirt that had already been caked onto Ren's fur. Taking his time, Aoba proceeded to rinse Ren as best as he could for now without soap. He would give him a full bath in the morning.

Wrapped Ren in some paper towels, he returned to the room the woman was in. She had towels laid out on the floor where the spills had been, some sort of cleaning product soaking there for sure. Aoba placed Ren back into his jacket to keep him warm and safe, shuddering at the wet fur hitting his skin again. _Great, and you had just gotten dry, too..._

Aoba was pulled from his thoughts upon seeing the woman's face. She was frowning a bit at the broken shards of glass, specifically at some pieces with the remnants of labels on them. “Is everything okay?” Aoba asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

The woman seemed to snap out of her reverie instantly. “Oh! Yes, everything is fine. I'll just need to mix these again later. They were my last of the stock.” Aoba didn't think that was quite the reason why she looked so distraught, but he'd take her word for it. “Anyway; the order is finished. I'm sure your grandmother will be delighted. Bring me back the money for it next time you come by, alright?”

“Alright I will. Thank you!” Aoba said, holding Ren a bit with one arm so he wouldn't fall out of the jacket, and picking up the bag with his other hand. It was a bit inconvenient, but it would work. He'd had to carry odder things before. Aoba attempted to bow before leaving, though quickly realized that was not going to happen. With a nervous chuckle, he backed out of the main room and continued back to the street.

 

~~~~

 

It had already gotten dark before Aoba finally reached his grandmother's house. He caught a bus the rest of the way and was glad to finally be out of the rain for good. Walking the last stretch to the front door, he rang the doorbell.

Tae, his grandmother, lived on the outskirts of the city, far enough out that apartments were no longer in sight and houses instead filled the streets, but still close enough to be considered part of the actual city. Each house looked vastly different, sizes ranging from small to large, tall to short, and everything in between. All the houses were some soft pastel color, most likely a brighter color when they were built, their age showing in the faded shades of grey they now were.

As Aoba looked at the houses around him, anxiously tapping his foot while he waited by the door, he heard the door unlock and open in one swift motion. There stood his grandmother, her hair up in a bun like always while still falling messily in braids to the side. Like usual, a scowl marked her face as she eyed Aoba up and down. “You're late,” she stated, her voice sounding more annoyed than she actually was.

“I didn't realize I had to be here at a specific time.” Aoba said, his voice laid back as usual. Instinctively, he tucked Ren further into his jacket so his grandmother wouldn't see. Ren had fallen asleep already, so he wasn't any trouble at this point.

“It’s past dinner. You know you're supposed to be home before dinner.” Tae waved her arm at him as if to tell him to get inside faster.

“That was when I lived here. I don't anymore.” Aoba said politely, stepping inside and kicking his shoes off in the doorway. He placed the bag his grandmother ordered on the table when he walked in, crossing his arms a bit to hide the bulge in his jacket where Ren was.

“Like hell you don't. You're only in those dorms for a few more months. Then you're stuck back here with me.” Tae grumbled at him, closing the door and locking it. She was quite a spunky old woman, despite her age.

Aoba just chuckled a bit. “Alright, grandma,” He said gently, smiling at her. “I'm going to go put my thing in my room, and then I'll be down for dinner, alright?”

“It's ready, so hurry up.” Tae responded, turning and going right into the kitchen without another word.

Aoba rushed up the stairs to the second floor, turning to his room and closing the door. He sat on the bed, unzipping his jacket and pulling Ren out. The little dog yawned and looked up at him, eyes barely opening as he took in the sight of the room. Aoba grinned at him. “You can go back to sleep. I'll bring some leftovers up for you.” Aoba placed Ren onto his bed, not really minding if he got some dirt on the blankets. Ren blinked up at him again, then fell back asleep almost instantly. Aoba walked over to the bathroom, grabbed a towel, and returned to the room to place it on top of Ren's small sleeping body. There. All warm.

Aoba proceeded to pull his jacket all the way off and drop his duffel bag on the floor. His room was still messy, exactly how he left it last time he was here. He doubted his grandmother would even find Ren in the room if she came in. The thought was amusing to say the least. After checking to make sure Ren was still asleep, Aoba left the room and closed the door to go downstairs for dinner.

 

~ ~ ~

 

Dinner was amazing as always. Tae always made things from scratch, and they wound up significantly better than anyone would ever think they could ever be. Aoba left dinner satisfied, returning to his room to check on Ren. The dog was still asleep, right where he left him. _What a well behaved dog._ Aoba smiled as he sat on the edge of the bed, petting the dog's fur. Ren opened his big eyes, blinking a few times before staring at Aoba.

Aoba fed Ren a few slices of meat scraps he'd brought up before noticing Ren's fur was still dirty. “Right. Let’s get you a bath before bed, shall we?” Aoba said brightly, lifting Ren up and carrying him to the bathroom. Ren didn't protest; he calmly accepted whatever Aoba had to offer. The bath didn't take long; Aoba was happy to see whatever injuries the dog had earlier weren't too bad. Mostly scratches that went away once he was all cleaned off. Aoba finished him up with a blow dry, and soon he could see how Ren was intended to look. His inky fur was all poofed up around his body, tongue hanging out of his mouth in a joyous look, and his eyes wide and sparkling. He was cute, to say the least.

“It's going to be hard to give you up.” Aoba smiled sheepishly, carrying Ren back to his bedroom. He placed Ren back onto his bed, pulled on his pajamas, and climbed in with him. Instantly, Ren curled up next to his chest for warmth. “Yep. Definitely hard to give you up.” Aoba chuckled softly, curling his body around the dog and drifting to sleep.

 

~ ~ ~

 

The sun shone in through the window, waking Aoba up a bit early than he'd hoped to. He forgot that such a thing occurred here; next time he visited, he would have to remember to close the blinds before bed. Ren laid sleeping against Aoba's body exactly where he had been the previous night. Aoba caressed his fur, waking the dog with this gentle motion. “Good morning, Ren.” Aoba spoke quietly, still petting the fur.

“Good morning.” A deep voice responded.

Aoba felt his heart pound in his chest. That was not what he expected to hear.

Today was starting differently for once.

 

**Author's Note:**

> The entire plot of this story is pretty much wish fulfillment on my part; it's all stuff I wanted to read in fics but couldn't find (so I decided to do it myself). The actual plot should kick in next chapter. I hope you enjoyed what I've written so far. Leave a comment if you'd like! I love reading them, haha.


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